The sheer impact of the coronavirus is overwhelming many companies and entire industries. Many are asking themselves “Should our brand stay silent during the pandemic?” The answer is no. Now is not the time to stay silent or be inactive.
Why?
Research shows that 92% of consumers believe brands need to keep advertising. In fact, consumers welcome ads as a form of distraction and entertainment to help drown out the 24×7 news of COVID-19. According to the World Federation of Advertisers, 80 percent of multinationals are creating new content in response to the crisis.
Stop and think about it—due to the work-at-home and sheltering-in-place requirements, consumers have more time to take in brand messages. Recent reports show that attention to both digital and print advertising is higher since the outbreak. In short, it presents some sense of normalcy.
Brands do need to be careful about the content of their campaigns. Keeping most normal advertising going makes sense, as long as the content isn’t seen as inappropriate and appearing to exploit the crisis. The consensus surrounding content during COVID-19 is that brands should continue to portray the everyday normal.
Content planning
In addition, those who do something extra for consumers with no immediate benefits to the brand will build long-term brand trust. Take Budweiser’s, “One Team”— an emotionally driven ad celebrating people working to fight coronavirus that has action behind it: hosting American Red Cross blood drives at stadiums and arenas. Conscientious, strategic content planning will help build long-term brand trust and enable brands to emerge even stronger as the world enters recovery mode.
Here are a few basic guidelines* to consider in planning content now:
1. Be human—authenticity and empathy deliver trust; perhaps forego product ads and provide more emotional support.
2. Care and be responsible—always make sure content is aligned with local health guidelines.
3. Be nostalgic—it warms the heart.
4. Use humor, appropriately—we all need to smile and be distracted from the pandemic.
Kudos to Budweiser for using all of these elements effectively. This worldwide company has brought back its iconic “Whassup?” ad with a new twist: encouraging people to check in on their friends during the coronavirus lock down. Take a look here.
I encourage you to stay hopeful and keep telling inspiring, creative brand stories. Because we want them and need them—in good, and especially in tough, times.
*Adapted from WARC.com article, In a time of COVID-19, to advertise or not to advertise